I failed to see the point of promotion boards which didn't respect the value of the Spec Rec system
I had seen far too many dissatisfied squadron leaders moaning about their daily commute to London from Lincolnshire and in constant discussion about the best moment to PVR: this only reinforced my desire to stay on as specialist aircrew rather than follow the rat-race (moving the family about was not really an option with my daughters in a very good secondary school). This did not sit well with most of my second ROs who couldn't understand my reluctance to enter the monkey tree, with the result that I achieved my ambition and retired on a very good PAS pension. One supportive 1st RO however told me that he would rather have keen spec aircrew working for him rather than a disgruntled overlooked flt lt and supported my plans.